Normal distributions from your traditional IRA are allowed after
you reach age 59?. At this age, you may begin making voluntary withdrawals. Once
you have reached the age of 70?, however, you are required by law to take
distributions. There are IRS formulas that will help you determine how much you
must withdraw after age 70?.

If you take a premature withdrawal before 59?, you will be
charged a 10 percent penalty tax on top of the regular income taxes you'll owe
on the withdrawn amount. However, you can withdraw without penalty under any of
these exceptions:

? You
become disabled.

? You die, in which case the money in the IRA is paid to
your beneficiary.

? You incur certain medical expenses. They must exceed 7.5
percent of your adjusted gross income and cannot be covered by insurance.

? You pay health insurance premiums while unemployed. There
are certain conditions you must meet to qualify for this exception.

? You need the money to pay certain college expenses.

? Your withdrawals are made as part of a series of equal
annual withdrawals based upon your life expectancy.

? Your withdrawals are made for first-time homebuyer
expenses.

There are a number of ways you can take distributions from
your IRA. We will discuss them next.